Educating Texas Counselors Since 2007
Happy 2018! Every January I edit and revise all of my paperwork. As promised, here is a fifteen minute video consultation. In it, I act as your supervisor and tell you exactly why I include the things I do. As a speaker, this is a topic I get asked to present a lot. Let me know what you think in the comments below!
January is that beautiful time of year when I clean my counseling practice ‘house’ including my paperwork. This year was a little extreme because I literally got a new coat of paint and new floors. As you can see from the artsy filtered photo I took below, my office looks amazing.
But what about the things you can’t see in the photo? Is my paperwork up to date with the latest licensing laws? Have I changed my passwords on a regular basis? Have I checked to see if my credit card charges are accurate?
I’m not even joking – I called about a charge on my account I didn’t recognize and found out it was from something I THOUGHT I had closed in February 2017. The lesson? Watch your bank account.
January 2018 I will edit all of my new client paperwork, change my passwords, and update my bookkeeping. Today’s housekeeping item will be my new client intake Face Sheet. Catch my next blog and I will walk you through my editing process for our 2018 Service Agreement/Consent to Treat. Is it exciting? No, not really, but it’s only 3 minutes of your life and it will save you a lot of headaches down the road. When you’re ready you can even head to our store here to purchase the fully edited paperwork you can download and customize for your practice. Enjoy!
What I have learned as a mental health practice consultant is every counselor has a compelling story. For a mental health professional, her story is her strength and her compass. The problem? Amazing stories start us, but too many of us lack the good habits that will sustain us and our practice. As a speaker, trainer, and advocate I try to help my audience focus on details, attitude, and positive routines. The goal? Your practice, and you, continue to grow and thrive. After all, we need you!
Good habits and a positive attitude are important because without them you will lack the motivation to take care of the details. As a counselor, you have a lot to do after you graduate and there is no syllabus to guide and push you along. If you don’t take care of the details, the consequences can be dire:
When I graduated with my master’s degree in counseling in 2000, I went right back to my teaching job. Why? I was scared to make the leap and start my counseling career. Private practice was my ‘someday’ idea. Basically I was an introvert who knew nothing about business. I had great study habits, zero business habits, and I had bills to pay.
Somehow, I learned about a cheesy-sounding book called “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” by Dale Carnegie. As a broke teacher/post grad it didn’t hurt that the book was in the public domain and I could download it for free. I set up an office in an upstairs bedroom, got the book, and did what I do best, started studying.
HTWFAIP was written around the time of the second World War joining other self-help books like Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich.” These books, with their very straightforward messages (shake hands firmly but not too tightly), and no-nonsense titles were designed with a purpose. American farms had been decimated by the dust bowl and men were having to find jobs in the city. World War two was coming to an end and men were coming home to compete for jobs and start families in the suburbs. These men had to learn how to survive in the post-agrarian economy and prosper. The premise was simple: change your mind, create positive routines, and successfully make enough money to support your family. I liked that.
Turns out, Dale Carnegie was a counselor. He taught me how to have confidence and define success. I began to smile and make eye contact when I talked to people at networking events. I learned that if I could remember people’s names they were more likely to refer business to me. Thanks that that book, I learned the habits and attitudes that keep my business running successfully today.
Remember, your story and your passion only get you so far. Setting an intention, creating good habits, and having a good attitude lead to adjustments in time and resources (otherwise known as prioritizing). If you can prioritize then you can protect your license, provide excellent service to your clients, and have a great counseling career.
Keep on Growing: Why an Excellent Supervisor Refresher Course Matters
Email 1 (counselor): Do counselor supervisors need continuing education?
Email 2 (me): Yep
Email 3 (counselor): Will your Supervisor Refresher Course count for supervisor continuing education?
Email 4 (me): Yep
Email 5 (counselor): Do I have to travel to take it?
Email 6 (me): Nope. You can actually attend our live class virtually.
Two email exchanges later and this counselor had signed up for an amazing LPC/LMFT Supervisor Refresher Course for his continuing education.
Most states require continuing education for mental health providers holding the supervisor designation. The problem? Good ones are hard to find. Face to face supervisor refresher courses are held infrequently and usually require travel. Online courses can be sketchy at best, or contain out of date information, errors, and broken links to malfunctioning exams.
At Kate Walker Training we offer our Supervisor Refresher Courses four times each year. Each course is divided into modules:
The best part about our Supervision Refresher Courses?
They are packed full of information for non-supervisors too! Our Module 3 Side by Side is one of our most popular courses because we go over the most up-to-date information that all counselors need to know.
Signing up for a refresher course is easy
Step 1 – go to https://katewalkertraining.com/courses/counselor-supervisor-refresher-ceu/
Step 2 – Click the ‘Register’ button
Step 3 – Check the boxes for the modules you’d like to attend.
Whether you are a counselor supervisor or not, if you feel a calling to help even more people and you are ready to become an even greater asset to your profession and your community, then the Supervisor Refresher Course is for you. It’s intended to be fun and engaging but also stimulating and in-depth.
As I meditate on those truths that we hold to be self-evident, I can’t help but wonder what happened to the private practice owner. Most of us who graduated from a counseling program received little to no business education. Because of that, while we are pursuing life, liberty, and happiness we are simultaneously struggling with finances, time, and burnout. I was going to list the Counselor’s Bill of Rights, but instead I came up with the Counselor’s List of Exceptions:
This is not okay!
A common solution to this very common problem is to develop Multiple Streams of Income. Your other income sources will not only provide cash you can use for a rainy day, they can fund a retirement account, or provide investment capital for your growing business.
Here are examples of some streams of income so your business keeps working even if you need a day off: